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India Won’t Use Nuclear Weapons First

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, the presumed front-runner to lead the next government, has clarified its stated plan to “revise and update” the country’s nuclear weapons doctrine.

BJP President Rajnath Singh told the Hindustan Times in an interview published Monday that the party has no intention of reversing the “no first use” policy that was adopted in 1991 when it was previously in power. As the title suggests, the policy commits India not to use nuclear weapons first in a conflict. Abandoning “no first use” would undoubtedly exacerbate tensions with China, which subscribes to “no first use,” and Pakistan, which does not.
Now the BJP needs to go further and explain in detail to Indians, and the world, exactly what elements of the nuclear doctrine it does plan to alter. If the BJP wins the election that began on April 7, Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, is expected to be the next prime minister and pursue a more muscular foreign policy.

As we editorialized on April 9, instead of abandoning the “no first use” doctrine, whoever wins the election would do better to improve ties with Pakistan and start an arms control initiative that could lead to regional equilibrium on these dangerous weapons.